Birkenstock x Tarts Anon
Birkenstock Australia has teamed up with Melbourne's cult patisserie Tarts Anon for a collaboration that brings together kitchen comfort and pastry craft.
Head chef Gareth Whitton has worn Birkenstocks through most of his career, from fine dining kitchens to running Tarts Anon today. Building on this connection, we kitted out the Tarts Anon team in our Professional range to support their long shifts on unforgiving kitchen floors.
When Gareth saw the Thyme colourway, he did what he does best: turned inspiration into something delicious, creating the Thyme, Chocolate and Verjus Tart, finished with Birkenstock's signature tread pattern on top.
The limited-edition tart was available exclusively at Tarts Anon Richmond from 12–14 September 2025.
In this video, Gareth shares how Tarts Anon evolved from a side-hustle and why the right footwear matters in the kitchen. 
Kitchen Talk with Gareth Whitton
Read on for our interview with Gareth, where he reflects on everything from early kitchen lessons, the evolution of Tarts Anon, and how Birkenstock ended up baked into the story.
Where did the idea for the Birkenstock tart come from?
I wanted to create something that felt instantly familiar and comforting, but with layers of craft and surprise. That's the way we approach all our tarts. That's where the ethos overlaps nicely with Birkenstock. What really sparked it, though, was the thyme colour in the Pro range. I instantly fell in love with it, and it opened the door to get creative with thyme as a flavour. That in itself was a challenge, but also an opportunity. Bringing it to life became a real team effort, thinking about how those herbaceous notes could be softened, balanced, and showcased in a sweet context.
You’ve worn Birkenstocks in kitchens for years. Why have they stuck with you?
Birkenstocks have been part of my uniform for most of my career. They've become part of my identity. Kitchens are brutal on your feet, so comfort was the first reason. They're practical, unpretentious, and more stylish compared to old-school clogs or boots. To me, they're the choice of the chef who cares about not only how they look but how they perform in the kitchen. Outside of kitchen life, I spend most of my time in Birkenstock Bostons. Beyond just the practical side, I see Birkenstock as a brand that's timeless, authentic, and doesn't try too hard. That lines up with what we do at Tarts Anon: simple ideas, done really well, with a focus on quality that speaks for itself.
What drew you to this collaboration with Birkenstock?
The chance to bring two worlds together that people might not expect: footwear and pastry. But when you look closer, there's a real alignment in values. Both are about comfort, quality, and longevity. I loved the challenge of translating those ideas into a tart, and the creative freedom to have a bit of fun with it while keeping it true to what we do at Tarts Anon.
When hospitality shut down during COVID, you started baking tarts at home and selling them on Instagram. Did you think it would just be temporary, or did you already see potential in it?
It started as a side hustle and was always meant to be. I'd decided at that time that a career in patisserie was my next step, to do away with restaurant life, but there was no way I was going to enter a new industry without experience. So, it was always meant to be a bit of fun until it made sense to pursue it properly.
The early days just inspired me to dream about what could be possible. But it was a lot later than it should have been when I realised we'd outgrown that. We had offers and support to turn it into something else, but I was determined to take my job at the time seriously. The turning point was when we were offered our first bricks-and-mortar shop. Having someone else believe in the potential of Tarts Anon was a firm nudge in the right direction. Owning my own place wasn't part of the plan at all. The risk and the mental load terrified me. But we've essentially fallen into business ownership, and now I wouldn't have it any other way.
Tarts Anon has become quite the fixture in Melbourne’s food culture. What do you think people connect with most?
I think people originally connected with Tarts Anon because it felt a bit like being part of a club. There was the fun of discovery, the excitement of new drops and collabs, but also the comfort of knowing our focus on quality will always be there. At the heart of it, they're just tarts: nostalgic, familiar, something everyone's grown up with, but we approach them with the craft and detail of a professional kitchen. That mix of playfulness and precision is what makes it special, and I think people really respond to that.
You've worked at some of the world's top restaurants, including Pier, Quay, Dinner by Heston, and Oud Sluis. What did those experiences teach you about discipline and creativity?
The introduction to incredibly high standards across all facets of kitchen life was the best takeaway. I sometimes wonder what life would have been like if I'd gone down a more specialist path, but being in the best kitchens showed me how to grow by working at that level. At Pier, I learnt to cook; at Quay, I learnt to lead; at Oud Sluis, I learnt to give everything; and Dinner by Heston was my finishing school, where I polished those skills. Still feel like there's plenty more polishing to do though!
Your tarts are instantly recognisable for their clean lines and minimal style. Where does that approach come from?
Mostly a desire to keep things clean. Being trained to put such an emphasis on precision made me want to engineer our products so these clean lines weren't compromised by texture, temperature, and flavour, and vice versa. We want the focus to be on the craftsmanship of our products, but only second to taste.
From your appearance as a guest judge on MasterChef in 2022 to winning Dessert Masters in 2023, how did those moments change things for Tarts Anon?
It was a boost in exposure that the brand definitely needed. The MasterChef episode I judged aired right when the shop opened in 2022, so we were still very new to our space. We hadn't had much experience running an operation like that, so to be slammed with new customers after the episode aired was a lot to manage.
When Dessert Masters came around a year later, we had a better idea of what to expect, but the response was even bigger. We were getting inundated with orders, opportunities, job applications, and brand partnerships like never before. It really put us on the map as a destination and gave us the opportunity to inspire new customers and grow our brand.
How does running your own bakery compare with working in fine dining restaurants?
The rhythm at Tarts Anon is completely different from restaurant kitchens. In fine dining, it's all late nights, endless prep, and chasing perfection in a high-pressure environment every single service. Here, it's still intense. We're a small team making a lot of products, but the energy is more nurturing and sustainable. We get to focus on ideas, flavour, and having fun with what we do, rather than just survival mode. It's still busy, but it's our own pace, and that's been a huge shift.
What feels most meaningful about building Tarts Anon?
That it's something my partner Catherine and I have built together, and that I've been able to share it with great friends and cherished colleagues who've worked with us for years. We've never borrowed money or sought investments. Everything has come off the back of hard work and dedication, plus a super supportive network of customers and team members. The people who've been involved with making Tarts Anon what it is today are easily the most rewarding part.
What's next for Tarts Anon?
We've got big ambitions in the pipeline, but right now we're focused on refining our operations after a few recent disruptions. Growth has always been part of our long-term plans, alongside slowly diversifying our offerings and potentially even splitting the business into two separate subsidiary brands. We don't want to give too much away just yet, but we're building our team thoughtfully to create more opportunities within the business as we move forward.
